The First Garden Harvest: RADISHES

Well hello there.. it's been awhile! I quite enjoy sharing our life here in this little corner of the world, yet life has been quite busy. Every time I think "I should write and send out a blog post on (insert subject here)." Something else takes precedence. My priority has been the gardens, the animals, and well, spending time with my handsome husband. ALL GOOD THINGS! Time together has become so precious to us. But alas, here I am, sharing more photos of our gardens, which I am quite proud of!

If you remember last year's gardens, I learned quite the list of lessons with the flowers and vegetables I grew (or really, didn't grow). I took on too big of a garden without having the time or capability to care for it. This year, we pared back the garden. That doesn't mean I cut down on the variety of produce rather I pared back to growing a smaller amount of each variety. The goal is to learn what grows well here on our farm and culinarily speaking, what I want to grow for food. There are still lesson to learn but some things have grown quite well!

One of the first blessings to come out of the garden are radishes. If you don't grow radishes, you need to! I am happy to say that I have mastered the art of growing radishes.. and I'm going to tell you my secret:

YOU PLANT THEM!

No, seriously. Radishes are eager to grow. Radishes are a cool weather crop, so for us in Zone 8b, we can grow a Spring crop and a Fall crop. It takes about a month from seed to harvest, making radishes a super fast and easy crop to grow!

After a quick harvest in the garden, I removed the radish greens, tossed them to the rabbits, and took my harvest to the kitchen. Radishes are a great addition to a salad or as a spicy addition to tacos, but one of my favorite ways to use radishes in a recipe is to roast them in the oven!

My best way to describe the flavor of roasted radishes is to think of it like a peppered potato. They're absolutely delicious, friends, and so very easy to make! I halved each radish, added them to a bowl of diced russet potatoes and halved brussel sprouts, tossed everything with a generous portion of olive oil, garden salt and pepper, baked on a sheet for 30(ish) minutes at 400 degrees F. Seriously, roasted veggies are absolutely delicious and the perfect side for chicken, beef or fish!

So that's it my friends. The first of many garden harvests this year. May you learn and grow in your gardens as well.

Cheers!